Approval from Gajeel
by LadyEnigma888
Summary: How will Gajeel react to Juvia's choice of a boyfriend? Read to find out! Sequel to Lessons from Laxus, but can be read as a stand-alone piece.


**Approval from Gajeel**

How will Gajeel react to Juvia's choice of a boyfriend? Read to find out! Sequel to Lessons from Laxus, but can be read as a stand-alone piece.

 **A/N**

 **My lovely readers, thank you so much for your reviews! Originally I was not planning to continue the story. I'm quite a shitty writer when it comes to completing fics (even oneshots!) because I keep procrastinating and most of my ideas are either written as drafty drafts or keep dwelling in my head. However, your support and kind words made me realize that I absolutely need to write at least one more story focused on relationship between Gajeel and Juvia, because it needs more love. This story came not as light-hearted and fun the previous one, but I hope you will enjoy it anyways.**

 **Do not own anything and sorry in advance for Gajeel's terrible OOC-ness and the mistakes I made (no beta, not a native speaker, writing this late at night, yadda, yadda…).**

'L-laxus-sama, stop, plea-... ouch!'

Gajeel didn't like what he heard. He was back from a hell of a long mission (it took him over a month to complete it!) and had just finished reporting it to the guild Master. The last thing he expected to stumble upon was Juvia's muffled murmur and moans somewhere on the second floor of the guild house. Wait, was it "Laxus-sama"? Shouldn't it have been "Gray-sama"? Something was fishy, so Gajeel rushed to the rescue. That lightning freak was most likely forcing Juvia to do something she didn't want to.

However, as Gajeel burst into the room where he could smell Juvia and Laxus, he found himself to be quite perplexed with what he could observe. The water mage stood in front of lightning dragon slayer wearing nothing but a playboy bunny costume. Laxus with several pigtails on his head was helping Juvia to lace up a corset. The bluenette was meekly protesting saying that she could barely breathe and kept fidgeting around. Her bunny ears were shaking in a funny manner each time she moved.

'What the hell is going on?' The iron mage frowned.

'Hello, metal-br… I mean, Gajeel', Laxus decided to act more polite towards his girlfriend's best friend, 'relax, we're just having fun'.

'Gajeel-kun! You're back! How was your mission? Juvia hasn't seen you for ages!' Juvia looked slightly embarrassed but still glad to see her friend again. Indeed, last time ex-Phantom mages could enjoy each other's company was long ago, the day of the infamous party, after which Juvia ended up leaving with Laxus. Naturally, Gajeel was too wasted to remember such a small detail, and the next day he did not show up in the guild, and a week after, while Juvia was still away, he was sent on a mission, and it took him a while, and the only person he had talked to after his return was Makarov… to sum up, he had not heard yet that his best friend went through a relationship upgrade, and of course, he could not even imagine that she would give up on Gray someday.

'Crappy. There are more important things to attend!'

Having said that, Gajeel snatched Juvia from Laxus and ran out from the room down to the guild hall, carrying the bluenette over his shoulder. The water mage tried to free herself from the iron grip, but, to her utter horror, she realized that the corset laces were still not tied and with each Gajeel's movement her attire became more and more loose, and the last thing Juvia wanted to happen was being exposed half nude to the whole guild. So she clutched onto her friend's torso and tried to persuade the iron mage to put her down.

'Gajeel-kun, let Juvia go!'

'I'm saving your ass from that jerk!'

'You don't get it! Put me down!'

The guild folk was quite bemused with the scene and too entertained to interfere. Laxus, still with pigtails, ran after Gajeel and tried to clear the misunderstanding.

'Dude, that was just a bet! Juvia does not need to be saved!'

Gajeel stopped near the bar and showed Mira a piece of paper. 'We're taking this mission, just the two of us. Now!' The white haired demon just nodded. She had a hard time suppressing her laughter, as a new hairdo of her fellow S-class mage made a good contrast to the seriousness of his tone.

'Gajeel, stop!' Laxus finally caught up with the enraged dragon slayer. 'I'm not making Juvia do anything. We're dating for the fuck's sake! Now let her go!'

Gajeel scowled and gazed intently into the blonde's eyes, still holding the water mage.

'I don't remember giving my approval to anyone dating my best friend.'

'Wha-?'

'Laxus-sama, please don't. Juvia does owe an explanation to Gajeel-kun.' The iron mage snorted as Juvia went on, 'Gajeel-kun, please, bring Juvia back to the room so she can change her clothes. We can talk there alone.'

After the duo left, Mira could finally leave out a snicker.

'Nice hairdo.'

'Stupid bet'. Laxus cursed and started to let his hair down.

'What bet?', the barmaid asked innocently, trying to sound uninterested.

'Juvia still has self-confidence issues. How can she be so insecure about her sexy as hell body?'

'Beats me. She does have nice curves…'

'Hey! No girlfriend stealing!' Mira just smiled and the lightning mage continued, 'so we agreed that she would wear a revealing costume, but then she said it was not fair and I should do something to look funny because she thinks I'm too concerned about being badass. And then Gajeel happened.'

'He's just being protective… he's like a big brother to Juvia. I think you'd better leave them alone for a time being, they'll sort it out somehow'. Laxus sighed as he silently followed the ex-Phantoms to the guild front door with his eyes.

'Guess you're right.'

Gajeel's angry outburst slowly faded away as he and Juvia left the guild. He couldn't help but notice the changes in his comrade. Her looks, her smell, her posture; everything was different. The dragon slayer felt resentment as he suddenly found himself left out of Juvia's life. And it hurt. Her brief explanation left the iron mage unsatisfied, and while he respected Laxus for his strength, Juvia's choice of a boyfriend seemed strange, totally out of character to her. Gajeel sort of got used to Gray and even started accepting him as a possible mate for his friend, but with Laxus' interfering the whole situation became upside down. It was hard to believe that less than in a couple of months Juvia's life changed so drastically, and he was not there for her…

The friends remained silent for the most part on the way to the Lilac town. It was not that far, but given Gajeel's being gloomy, snappy and motion sick, the trip seemed to last for eternity for Juvia. They arrived late in the evening and had to spent a night in a hotel before starting to work on their assignment. It was the first time Gajeel insisted on taking separate rooms – he quickly paid for everything before Juvia could protest and hastily left the reception muttering something along with the lines 'can't bear his smell on you'. The water mage was upset with her friend's behavior, and she did feel somewhat guilty, so she just tool the keys and slowly went to her room, sniffing on the way. One could hear a soft dripping of a gentle rain outside become a full-fledged downpour. Needless to say, it was still raining cats and dogs in the morning as Juvia and Gajeel left the warmth of the hotel behind to find their client. They were strolling through an empty park, and with each step the bluenette appeared to be more and more miserable. Even the talk with Gray was not so devastating. As the heavy silence became unbearable, the iron dragon slayer stopped and pulled his friend in an uneasy embrace.

'Gajeel-kun, Juvia's sorry.'

'Twenty-seven.'

'Sorry?'

'Twenty-eight. Juv, stop apologizing to me. I just… I need to accept it, that's it.'

'But Laxus-sama…'

'That's not about Laxus. It's more about us, I guess. I'm so mad at myself because I suddenly feel so distant and unimportant to you. I'm mad at you because you haven't told me a damn thing in six weeks. It's not like we don't have those fancy lacrima thingies…'

'Gajeel-kun…' Juvia uncertainly wrapped her arms around her friend's torso.

'Let me finish. So I get back and instead of my dear friend there is suddenly a stranger, and…'

'Gajeel-kun, Juvia understands and she is sorry for not letting you know sooner. But Juvia is still Juvia, and Gajeel-kun is her family. Juvia is not a stranger to you.'

The iron mage rested his chin on the top of Juvia's wet hair. The rain was strangely soothing.

'Does.. does he treat you well?'

'Gajeel-kun might not believe it, but Laxus-sama is very nice, warm and caring…'

'And good in bed, I presume,' the dragon slayer chuckled as he noticed his friend blushing furiously, 'don't think you can hide anything from me, when you have his smell all over you!'

Juvia playfully smacked Gajeel's left shoulder and continued, 'and while he likes to tease Juvia just like Gajeel-kun, Laxus-sama… he really loves me. And I love him.'

'And what about your rain?'

'Laxus-sama says there's no lightning without storm, and there's no storm without rain. And Juvia doesn't cause too much rain anymore!'

True, as the water mage calmed down, the overcast sky started to clear out. Gajeel pressed Juvia a little tighter to his chest before letting her free.

'I'm sorry for overreacting and behaving like a moron.' Juvia smiled as her friend went on, 'Nevertheless, I'm keeping an eye on him. He breaks your heart, I break his everything, S-class or not!'

The rain woman snickered, thinking to herself about her dear dragon slayers and their possessive antics. And she used to be the one called crazy!

The sun had been shining brightly by the time the Fairy mages got to their client's mansion. The case turned out to be quite simple. The client named Nascar, an avid collector, had been robbed of a rare artifact, and wanted it back for a decent price. The artifact was stolen by his twin brother, with whom Nascar had a quarrel over a decade ago because of his unhealthy destructive tendencies. Now the said brother escaped from the prison and wanted revenge. So the client gave the magic duo directions, described the artifact and paid in advance one third of the prize money. Gajeel and Juvia left eagerly, as they wanted to get over with the mission quick and come back home so the iron dragon slayer could have "the talk" with Laxus and see for himself that the lightning mage is not that much of a jerk Gajeel imagined him to be. Especially towards Juvia. And while the friends discussed the upcoming artifact retrieval operation, they did not notice that the mansion behind their backs vanished into a thin air…

'Laxus, we have a problem!'

'Huh?' The lightning mage took a sip of his black coffee and looked at the anxious barmaid bending over his table. Mira sounded quite alarmed as she provided an explanation.

'The mission Gajeel took with Juvia. It is not listed anywhere officially. I think it might be a trap!'

Laxus tensed. Sure, both iron and water mage were very strong and both could take care of themselves, but if was a trap, the enemy would take that into account and plan accordingly. The dragon slayer stood up, leaving his drink unfinished.

'I'm going there. Give me the directions.'

…Gajeel smashed another golem and inwardly cursed because there were six more of those. Juvia fought right behind him, fully concentrated on her own battle. She also had to deal with several golems. It was not an easy opponent to her as they were immune to most of her water attacks; to destroy a golem one had to break the controlling gem inside its head, otherwise it would regenerate and keep attacking. A hooded figure nearby held a short gilded staff with a dark stone on its knob and laughed maniacally. That was an evil twin brother of Nascar, their client, and the staff was the stolen artifact the friends were looking for. Who knew that the damn thing was actually a magical weapon that allowed even a regular human cast quite powerful spells? Like one hundred golems. Or a giant firebird. The variety of the attacks was amazing and horrifying at the same time. Juvia tried to capture the criminal into her water prison, but he just cackled watching the water dome appear around him. The water lock turned out to be empty; the hooded figure was just an illusion! As Gajeel finally crashed his clay opponents, he helped Juvia to finish off hers and they split to search for the culprit. A hoarse voice was suddenly heard behind the water mage's back.

'You've brought me enough headache, you dirty liquid bitch! Let's see how you can handle some lightning!'

A sharp cry of pain reached the dragon slayer's sensitive ears and Gajeel rushed to aid his friend. Juvia laid on the ground helplessly, eyes shut, her limbs going limp, her body still shaking from the blast she had taken. The criminal's hood fell down and revealed his face as he threw back his head in his evil laugh and the iron mage gasped in surprise.

'You!'

Nascar smirked as another bolt of lightning was forming around the stone of the staff. 'Indeed, it's me. Now you will let me capture you, or your precious little friend will receive another piece of lightning!'

'Bastard!', Gajeel angrily responded, thinking fast of a strategy. 'Not afraid that I'll fucking kill you?'

'No, not after your magic and life force become one with the Black Staff!'

The lighting around the staff's knob was growing frighteningly large. One more shot and Juvia might… die? Gajeel mentally slapped himself for such negative thoughts. Just as he had finally made up his mind and opened his mouth to announce his defeat on order to make Nascar free his friend, the iron mage suddenly picked up a familiar smell. A very familiar one. Gajeel smirked.

'It's gilded, you dimwit. And if you ask me…"Black Staff" sounds fucking retarded!'

Nascar roared and lifted his artifact over Juvia, getting ready to strike the helpless blunette, when a huge bolt of lightning suddenly detached itself from the knob and hit the unfortunate criminal.

'No. One. Hurts. My. WOMAN!'

A very furious lightning mage seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing next to the unconscious body of the culprit. He kneeled before Juvia, and tenderly caressed her bruised cheek. The bluenette moaned in pain and slowly opened her eyes.

'L-laxus-sama…'

'Shh, don't strain yourself. Here, let me take you to Wendy or Porlyusca…' The blond mage carefully took his beloved one in his arms and gently lifted her from the ground. Then he turned to Gajeel, and said 'you, take care of this scum and his toy. After you're done, we are going to have "the talk" about your taking off with Juvia to crappy missions which could have her killed! I don't give a darn if you are her closest friend. If you harm her, or let someone else hurt her, get ready to spend a fucking whole year with the old healing hag because I will hurt you ten times more!'

The iron dragon slayer did as he was told, inwardly chuckling. Maybe they were not so different after all. Though, S-class badassery was something he, Gajeel, was yet to achieve…

A week after the trap mission Juvia, fully recovered, could finally leave the guild's infirmary. She had a lot of visitors, mostly Laxus and Wendy, but, surprisingly, there was no sight of Gajeel. As the bluenette reached the guild hall, the Fairy crowd cheered, happy to see their comrade safe and sound. She quickly scanned the area, and finally spotted her friend's back in a corner. She passed ever fighting Gray and Natsu, waved to Erza, Lucy and Levy, smiled to the Thunder Tribe chatting animatedly with the Strauss siblings, and finally approached Gajeel.

'Gajeel-kun…'

He turned around and grunted in response, 'Glad to see you back in action, Juv. I'm… sorry'

Juvia lifted her eyebrows. 'For what?'

'For not trusting you, choosing that trap of a mission, not being able to save you and not visiting you. Actually, your crazy jealous boyfriend didn't let me to, but anyways…'

The water mage beamed as she heard the dragon slayer say "your boyfriend". He accepted her relationship, didn't he?

'Gajeel-kun is too apologetic these days. Who are you and what did you do to Juvia's friend?'

The friends laughed together.

'So…' started Juvia in a low voice.

'So what?' Gajeel moved closer so he could hear her better.

'Did Laxus-sama get your approval?'

A strong pair of familiar arms hugged the bluenette from behind.

'You'd better ask your idiot friend if he got my approval to ever take you to such dangerous missions!'

The dragon slayers glared at each other. Juvia freed herself from Laxus' embrace and gave him one a quick peck on his cheek. She didn't want anyone to fight, so she tried to reassure the male mages that nothing bad had happened.

'Juvia was fine..'

'The hell you were! The metal head is on probation period.'

'No, that's the lightning jerk who's on probation!'

Juvia signed. What's up with her attracting extremely possessive, hot-headed men, who would tease her to no end, drive her crazy, and yet have a caring heart hidden somewhere deep under the dragon scales? But the real question was… would she have it any other way? The water mage smiled, listening to the slayers bickering and suddenly hugged them both.

'Juvia loves you guys!'

 **I really hope you enjoyed it despite some angstish moments and Juvia being kind of a damsel in distress. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
